Cascaded coils for multi-surface coverage in near field communication

ABSTRACT

Described herein are techniques related to near field coupling and wireless power transfers. A device may include a cascaded coil antenna to include a first coil antenna that is connected in series with a second coil antenna. The first and second coil antennas are independent antennas prior to cascading and are located in different surfaces of the device to establish near field coupling through front side, top side, bottom side, or corner side of the portable device. Furthermore, a flux guide may be placed in the cascaded coil antenna to facilitate magnetic flux at the first coil antenna and the second coil antenna to induce current of the same phase during receive mode. During transmit mode, the flux guide facilitates the magnetic flux at the first coil antenna and the second coil antenna to generate magnetic fields of the same direction.

BACKGROUND

Recently, technologies have arisen that allow near field coupling (suchas wireless power transfers (WPT) and near field communications (NFC))between electronic devices in close proximity to each other and moreparticularly, thin portable electronic devices. Both near field couplingfunctions use radio frequency (RF) antennas in each of the devices totransmit and receive electromagnetic signals. Because of user desires(and/or for esthetic reasons) many of these portable devices are small(and becoming smaller), and tend to have exaggerated aspect ratios whenviewed from the side. As a result, many of these thin portable devicesincorporate flat antennas, which use coils of conductive material astheir radiating antennas for use in near field coupling functions.

A conventional NFC antenna configuration in the thin portable devicesincludes a limited operational function. For example, the thin portabledevice is limited to share information through front side or back sideof the thin portable device using different coil antenna with differentNFC modules. Accordingly, an antenna configuration may be implemented toestablish NFC and/or WPT in multiple directions or surfaces to provideuser convenience in case of information transfer between portabledevices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates portable devices in an example near field couplingarrangement.

FIG. 2 illustrates a top plan view of a partially disassembled portabledevice.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example cascaded coil antenna configuration in aportable device.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example cascaded coil antenna configuration toinclude a non-series connection.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example cascaded coil antenna with a flux guide.

FIG. 5 illustrates different routing examples for cables in a cascadedcoil antenna.

FIG. 6 is a method for coupling a portable device to facilitate nearfield coupling.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative diagram of an example system that implementscascaded coils for multi-surface coverage in near field communication.

The following Detailed Description is provided with reference to theaccompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of areference number usually identifies the figure in which the referencenumber first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in differentfigures indicates similar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This document discloses one or more systems, apparatuses, methods, etc.for coupling antennas of devices and more particularly for coupling coilantennas of thin portable electronic devices for improving near fieldcoupling capabilities of the devices. Near field coupling includes (byway of illustration and not limitation) wireless power transfer (WPT)and/or near field communications (NFC) capabilities of the portabledevices. For example, the portable device includes a first coil antennathat is connected in series—through a connecting wire such as coaxialcable—to a second coil antenna to form a cascaded coil antennaarrangement. In this example, the series connection means a) positiveterminal of the first coil antenna and a negative terminal of the secondcoil antenna are connected to inner conductor and outer metallic shield,respectively, of the coaxial cable acting as a transmission line, and b)the negative terminal of the first coil antenna is connected or linkedby another connecting wire line to the positive terminal of the secondcoil antenna to complete the cascading of the two coil antennas.

In an implementation, the two coil antennas of the cascaded coil antennaare separate and independent from one another if not for the connectingwire that completes the cascading. In other words, they can be placedseparately at any surface of the portable device such as top, side,rear, or bottom surfaces to conduct near field coupling at thesesurfaces.

In an implementation, the connecting wire is configured to avoidparasitic loop between the terminals of the cascaded coil antenna. Forexample, the connecting wire line between the negative terminal of thefirst coil antenna and the positive terminal of the second coil antennais curled or twisted with the coaxial cable to minimize availability ofparasitic loop between them. Furthermore, a single NFC module may beimplemented for the cascaded coil antenna.

In an implementation, during receiving mode by the portable device,currents induced at the first coil antenna and the second coil antennaof the cascaded coil antenna may include the same phase. Similarly,during transmitting mode, magnetic fields that are generated by thecascaded coil antenna may include the same direction. In thisimplementation, a highly permeable flux guide (e.g., ferrite material)may be placed to cover a top portion of the first coil antenna and theferrite material continues to the other top portion of the second coilantenna that may be located at the opposite surface. The ferritematerial may facilitate magnetic flux to induce currents with the samephase during the receiving mode, and to generate magnetic fields of thesame direction during transmitting mode. In other implementations, bothends of the ferrite material may be inserted through slots at the firstcoil antenna and the second coil antenna to allow additive flux linkage.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example arrangement 100 of portable devices fornear field coupling. More particularly, users may have a desire tooperate near field coupling enabled portable electronic devices and/orother devices in certain ergonomically convenient manners. Examples ofsuch portable devices include (but are not limited to) mobile phone, acellular phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a tabletcomputer, a netbook, a notebook computer, a laptop computer, amultimedia playback device, a digital music player, a digital videoplayer, a navigational device, a digital camera, and the like.

In an implementation, FIG. 1A shows a so-called “NFC bump” where twousers (not shown) “bump” their NFC-enabled portable devices 102-2 and102-4 together in an edge-to-edge or head-to-head manner to performNFC-related information sharing functions. In other implementations, acorner-to-corner (not shown), or a front-to-back (not shown), or aback-to-back (not shown) manner may be performed for the “NFC bump.”FIG. 1A shows an often desired side-by-side arrangement of the portabledevices 102 for NFC and/or WPT purposes.

In an implementation, the portable devices 102 may include an antennaconfiguration to perform and/or establish near field coupling throughfront side, or top side, bottom side, rear side, or corner side of theportable devices 102. For example, the portable device 102-2 mayestablish NFC and/or WPT when the portable device 102-4 is placed on topof the portable device 102-2. In this example, the portable device 102-2may receive information (e.g., data packets) from the portable device102-4 through the established NFC. Further, the portable device 102-2may charge power to the portable device 102-4 through the front side ofportable device 102-2. Similarly, the portable device 102-4 mayestablish NFC and/or WPT when the portable device 102-2 is placed on topof the portable device 102-4. The above example for establishing NFCand/or WPT through the front side of the portable devices 102 maysimilarly apply to the top side, bottom side or corner side operations.

FIG. 1B illustrates the portable devices 102 to accept information froma credit card 104, an NFC tag 106, or other similar device when thecredit card 104/NFC tag 106 is placed at the front side (i.e., abovepalm rest area) when the portable device 102 is at clam shell mode.Similarly, FIG. 1B shows the credit card 104/NFC tag 106 that is placedat rear side (i.e., opposite surface of keyboard area) when the portabledevice 102 is at tablet mode. In these two implementations, a cascadedcoil antenna (not shown) may be installed to include a first coilantenna (not shown) at the palm rest area (not shown) of keyboard toestablish the near field coupling in the first illustration (i.e., clamshell mode), and another coil antenna (not shown) may be installed atthe rear side (not shown) of the portable device 102 for the tablet modeimplementation.

FIG. 2 illustrates a top plan view 200 of a partially disassembledportable device 102. The emerging technologies related to near fieldcoupling enable many appealing experiences for users of the portabledevice 102. For example, the portable device 102 may include thecascaded coil antenna in its design, so that (in part) the portabledevice 102 may possess the thin aspect ratios and small form factorssought by users. Moreover, the cascaded coil antenna may allow forcomparative ease in mechanical integration into the thin portable device102 (when considering mechanical factors in isolation from otherconsiderations such as, the ability of the coils of other portabledevices 102 to couple with one another). For instance, integrating aflexible printed circuit (FPC), which incorporates the coil antenna,into a thin portable device 102 may minimize the increase in thethickness of the portable device 102.

With continuing reference to FIG. 2, the drawing illustrates an exampledevice 202 that includes a housing of at least two surfaces (e.g., twoparallel surfaces). Between the two parallel surfaces may containmetallic components at the portable device 102. For example, themetallic components may include a battery 204, a mother board 206, and acamera 208. Other metallic components such as a heat sink hardware,printed circuit boards, processor(s), hard drives, memory, etc. may beincluded at the device 202. Further, a contact point 210 may be used toestablish electrical connection through a contact point 212 at a device214. For example, induced currents during receive mode at the device 214may be transmitted for processing (e.g., amplification) at the device202 through the contact points 210 and 212. In other implementations,the at least two surfaces of the housing in the device 202 may include atop surface and a bottom surface that may not necessarily be parallel toeach other, or contain the metallic components. For example, the topsurface and the bottom surface may define an acute angle that is locatedat an edge of the portable device 102.

In an implementation, the device 214 may include at least two separateand independent continuous loop of coil antenna 216 that are connectedin series to form a cascaded coil antenna 216. In this implementation,the cascaded coil antenna 216 is mounted on, embedded in, or otherwiseassociated with different surfaces of the device 214. The cascaded coilantenna 216 may include a dedicated antenna for NFC and/or WPT purposes.In other words, the cascaded coil antenna 216 may be configured tooperate on a separate resonant frequency (e.g., 13.56 MHz to implementNFC and/or WPT operations), and independent from another antenna thatuses standard frequencies used in wireless communications (e.g., 5 GHzfor WiFi signals).

In an implementation, the cascaded coil antenna 216 may include a firstcoil antenna 216-2 that is connected in series with a second coilantenna 216-4. In this implementation, the first coil antenna 216-2 andthe second coil antenna 216-4 may each include multiple inner loops andterminals (e.g., positive and negative terminals). In thisimplementation, the terminals of the first coil antenna 216-2 and thesecond coil antenna 216-4 are connected in series provide a single coilantenna (i.e., cascaded coil antenna 216) as seen by a NFC module (notshown). Furthermore, the coil antennas 216 may be separately located atdifferent surfaces (e.g., upper surface 218 or rear surface 220,respectively) of the portable device 102 to facilitate near fieldcoupling at the front side or rear side of the portable device 102. Inother implementations, the cascaded coil antenna 216 may be configuredto establish near field coupling at corner side, bottom side, at edge,or top side of the portable devices 102.

In an implementation, the cascaded coil antenna 216 may include a fluxguide (not shown) to guide or lead magnetic flux to the first coilantenna 216-2 or the second coil antenna 216-4 depending upon which coilantenna (i.e., second coil antenna 216-4 or first coil antenna 216-2) isreceiving the magnetic fields (not shown). For example, the magneticflux is guided by the flux guide from the first coil antenna 216-2 topenetrate and exit at the second coil antenna 216-4, or vice-versa. Theflux guide (not shown) may include a highly permeable material (e.g.,ferrite material) that may be embedded in or mounted between thecascaded coil antenna 216 and the device 202. In other implementations,the flux guide may be inserted through the cascaded coil antenna 216 toimprove performance as discussed in FIGS. 3A and 4.

FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary cascaded coil antenna 216 configurationto facilitate near field coupling. FIG. 3A illustrates the seriesconnection between the first coil antenna 216-2 and the second coilantenna 216-4 to form the cascaded coil antenna 216 configuration. Forexample, the first coil antenna 216-2 may include a continuous loop ofrectangular shape coil antenna that terminates at a positive terminal300-2 and a negative terminal 300-4. Similarly, the same configuration(i.e., rectangular continuous loop) second coil antenna 216-4 maycontain a positive terminal 300-6 and a negative terminal 300-8.

In an implementation, the series connection may include connecting thepositive terminal 300-2 and the negative terminal 300-8 to an innerconductor 302-2 and a metallic shield 302-4, respectively, of a coaxialcable 302 (i.e., transmission line). In this implementation, anotherconnecting wire 304 is used to connect or link the negative terminal300-4 to the positive terminal 300-8 in order to complete the cascadingof the two coil antennas and to form the cascaded coil antenna 216.

With continuing reference to FIG. 3A, the series connection that isimplemented through the coaxial cable 302 and the connecting wire 304may allow a an induced current 306-2 in the first coil antenna 216-2 tobe opposite in direction to another induced current 306-4 in the secondcoil antenna 216-4. In other words, magnetic fluxes (not shown) producedby magnetic fields (not shown) during receiving mode in the cascadedcoil antenna 216 may contain similar phase relationship such that,mutual magnetic fluxes aids one another. For example, the magneticfluxes flow into the plane of the first coil antenna 216-2 in aperpendicular and inward direction. In this example, the guided magneticfluxes flow into the plane of the second coil antenna 216-3 in aperpendicular and outward direction. At transmitting mode, the currentsinjected (not shown) in the cascaded coil antenna 216 may providemagnetic fields that add together during transmission.

In an implementation, the connection configuration in FIG. 3 may be usedfor both single ended and differentially fed coils. For example, for thesingle ended coils, the negative terminal 300-8 of the second coilantenna 216-4 and the metallic shield 302-4 are grounded. On the otherhand, there is no explicit center tap to ground in differentially fedcoils. The designation of the terminals as positive (+) and negative (−)is only to indicate polarity of induced voltage in each coil due tolinking magnetic fluxes. In other words, the designation may correspondto dot convention used in transformer design.

In an implementation, a ferrite 308 may be configured to cover a topportion 310-2 of a FPC substrate 312-2. In this implementation, the FPGsubstrate 312-2 is where the first coil antenna 216-2 is integrated orbuilt. The covered top portion 310-2 may extend or cover at least aninner area that is defined by inner perimeter of innermost loop 314-2 ofthe first coil antenna 216-2. In this implementation, the ferrite 308may be extended to span or continue to the second coil antenna 216-4that may be located at an opposite surface such as the rear side 220. Inan implementation, the ferrite 308 may cover top portion 310-4 of thesecond coil antenna 216-4, which top portion 310-4 may be defined by theinner perimeter of innermost loop 314-4. In other words, the ferrite 308may form like a letter “S” where the upper portion of the letter “S”covers the top portion 310-2, the middle portion of the letter “S” isthe extension of the ferrite 308 extending to or going to the secondcoil antenna 216-4, and the bottom portion of the letter “S” covers thetop portion 310-4 of the second coil antenna 216-2.

In an implementation, the ferrite 308 that forms the letter “S”configuration in covering the top portion 310 of the cascaded coilantenna 216 is placed in such a manner that it may receive majority ofmagnetic fluxes during receive mode or it may generate magnetic fieldsthat aids one another during transmit mode.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example coil antennas 216 that includes aparallel notation or connection. FIG. 3B shows the cascaded coil antenna216 that is not connected in series. In other words, similar to aconfiguration when connecting direct current (DC) supply voltages (notshown) in parallel, FIG. 3B shows the positive terminals 300-2 and 300-6to connect with the inner conductor 302-2 and the metallic shield 302-4,respectively. With this connection, the magnetic fluxes may provide adifferent phase relationship on the cascaded coil antenna 216. To thisend, there will be a subtraction of induced currents 306 since there isno aiding of the magnetic fluxes in the coil antennas 216. For example,at receive mode, the magnetic fluxes may induce the current 306-2 at thefirst coil antenna 216-2 in a clockwise direction. In this example, theguided magnetic fluxes at the second coil antenna 216-4 may generateanother current 306-4 at the same clockwise direction following theparallel notation or connection of FIG. 3B. Accordingly, both currents306-2 and 306-4 that may be induced by the magnetic fluxes may not addin phase, which may result in cancellation or minimization of couplingbetween the transmitting coil antenna (not shown) of the portable device102-4 and the cascaded coil antenna 216 of the portable device 102-2.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example cascaded coil antenna 216 that includesthe ferrite 308 to preferentially guide the received magnetic fluxes(i.e., during receive mode) from the first coil antenna 216-2 to thesecond coil antenna 216-4. In an implementation, the ferrite 308 isconfigured to cover the top portion 310-2, which is similar to the areacovered in FIG. 3A; however, an edge of the ferrite 308 is insertedthrough a slot 400-2 of the FPC substrate 312-2 and extends beyond anoutermost loop 402-2 of the first coil antenna 216-2 in order to expandthe area for receiving of the flowing magnetic fluxes to the plane ofthe first coil antenna 216-2.

With continuing reference to FIG. 4 and after covering the top portion310-2, the ferrite 308 spans across the second coil antenna 216-4 andsimilarly terminates beyond outermost loop 402-4 of the second coilantenna 216-4 after passing through another slot 400-4. In thisimplementation, the induced currents 306 at receive mode and thegenerated magnetic fields at transmit mode as discussed in FIG. 3 maysimilarly apply. For example, the guided magnetic fluxes in the cascadedcoil antenna 216 have the same phase relationship while the injectedcurrents in the cascaded coil antenna 216 may provide the magneticfields that add together during transmission.

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C illustrate different routing of connecting wires tocomplete the cascaded coil antenna 216. In an implementation, FIG. 5Ashows an area 500 that is defined or bounded by the inner conductor302-2, metallic shield 302-4, and the connecting wire 304. In thisimplementation, a parasitic loop (not shown) may be produced by thisconfiguration for which the efficiency of the cascaded coil antenna 216may be affected. For example, the area 500 that is defined or bounded bythe inner conductor 302-2, metallic shield 302-4, and the connectingwire 304 may act as a reflector or director to the cascaded coil antenna216. Accordingly, implementations like the connecting wire routingconfigurations in FIGS. 5B and 5C may correct the presence of thisparasitic loop.

In an implementation, FIG. 5B shows the connecting wire 304 that iscurled or twisted to the metallic shield 302-4 and the inner conductor302-2. In this implementation, the area 500 is minimized andaccordingly, the parasitic loop (not shown) is correspondinglyminimized. In other implementations, FIG. 5C shows the metallic shields302-4 from two separate coaxial cables 302 acting as the connecting wire304 in FIGS. 5A and 5B. In other words, the metallic shield 302-4 isused to connect the negative terminal 300-4 and the positive terminal300-6 of the first and second coil antennas 216, respectively. In thisconfiguration, the parasitic loop is minimized by the materials used forstandard coaxial cable 302. For example, the area 500 in thisconfiguration will be limited to area bounded by the inner conductor302-2 and the metallic shield 302-4, which are very minimal in actualimplementation.

With continuing reference to FIG. 5C, a single NFC module 502 may beused to process information or to control the cascaded coil antenna 216.

FIG. 6 shows an example process chart illustrating an example method forcoupling a portable device to facilitate near field communications. Theorder in which the method is described is not intended to be construedas a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can becombined in any order to implement the method, or alternate method.Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the method withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the subject matter describedherein. Furthermore, the method may be implemented in any suitablehardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof, withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

At block 602, establishing a near field coupling at a portable device isperformed. In an implementation, a first portable device (e.g., portabledevice 102-2) may establish near field coupling with a second portabledevice (e.g., portable device 102-4) by placing the portable device102-2 at front side, rear side, top side, bottom side, right side, or acorner side of the portable device 102-4. In other implementations, theportable device 102-4 may establish near field coupling when acceptinginformation from a credit card (e.g., credit card 104), an NFC tag(e.g., NFC tag 106), or other similar device when the credit card 104 orNFC tag 106 is placed at the front side (i.e., above the LCD screen),edge of a base, the rear side, bottom side, topside, or corner side ofthe portable device 102-2.

In an implementation, the portable device 102-2 may include a cascadedcoil antenna (e.g., cascaded coil antenna 216) that contains anindependent first coil antenna 216-2 that is cascaded or connected inseries with another independent second coil antenna 216-4. In thisimplementation, the first coil antenna 216-2, which is located on afirst surface (e.g., top surface 218), may be cascaded with the secondcoil antenna 216-4, which is located on a second surface (e.g., rearsurface 220), through a connecting wire (e.g., coaxial cable 302).

In an implementation, both coil antennas 216 are cascaded by connectingin series their respective terminals (e.g., terminal 300). For example,a positive terminal (e.g., terminal 300-2) of the first coil antenna216-2 and a negative terminal (e.g., terminal 300-8) of the second coilantenna 216-4 are connected to an inner conductor (e.g., inner conductor302-2) and a metallic shield (e.g., metallic shield 302-4),respectively, of the coaxial cable 302. In this example, a negativeterminal (e.g., terminal 300-4) of the first coil antenna 216-2 and apositive terminal (e.g., terminal 300-6) of the second coil antenna216-4 are linked by another connecting wire such as the connecting wire304 in order to complete the cascading coil antenna 216. In animplementation, the cascading configuration of the coil antennas 216 mayprovide reinforcing/adding of currents in the coil antennas 216 duringreceive mode while similar direction of magnetic fields are produced attransmit mode.

In an implementation, the first coil antenna 216-2 may be placed alongpalm rest of the portable device 102-2 while the second coil antenna216-4 may be placed at bottom, at top, or corner of the portable device102-2. In this implementation, a single NFC module (e.g., NFC module502) may treat the coil antennas 216 as a single cascaded coil antenna216. Furthermore, the cascaded coil antenna 216 may establish the nearfield coupling whether the portable device 102-2 is operated in a tabletmode, or in a clamshell mode.

In an implementation, a shield (e.g., ferrite 308) is installed at thefirst coil antenna 216-2 and spans up to the second coil antenna 216-4to receive and guide the magnetic fluxes to provide the same phaserelationship in the cascaded coil antenna 216. In this implementation,the ferrite 308 is configured as a letter “S” where the upper part andthe bottom part of the letter “S” ferrite 308 configuration are used tocover top portions (e.g., top portion 310) of the first and second coilantennas 216-2 and 216-4, respectively. For example, the receivedmagnetic fluxes are guided by the ferrite 308 through the second coilantenna 216-4 such that, the amount of current induced in thisimplementation is maximized.

At block 604, the cascaded coil antenna 216 may be used as a receivingcascaded coil antenna 216, or a transmitting cascaded coil antenna 216.For example, at receive mode such as in block 606, the portable device102-2 may receive magnetic fluxes due to the magnetic fields that may begenerated by another portable device 102-4. At transmit mode such as inblock 608, the portable device 102-2 may inject current 306 at thecascaded coil antenna 216 to generate a magnetic field. The portabledevice 102 may control transmit and receive operation of its radiocomponent that includes the cascaded coil antenna 216; however, thecascaded coil antenna 216 is a passive device. In other words, theseparation of the transmit mode and the receive mode at block 604 ismade to help explain the working mechanism in the presentimplementation. In actual implementations, both transmit and receiveoperations may be implemented at the same time in the cascaded coilantenna 216.

At block 610, guiding magnetic flux to induce a current of the samephase is performed. In an implementation, during the receive mode, themagnetic fluxes may be captured by a flux guide (e.g., flux guide 308)to induce a current (e.g., induced current 306). The flux guide 308 mayfacilitate the magnetic flux from the receiving coil antenna 216 (e.g.,coil antenna 216-2) to penetrate and exit at the other coil antenna 216(e.g., coil antenna 216-4) of the portable device 102.

In an implementation, the received magnetic fluxes at the first coilantenna 216-2 may induce a current 306-2 that flows in a clockwisedirection. On the other hand, the facilitated magnetic fluxes at thesecond coil antenna 216-4 may induce another current 306-4 that flows incounter-clockwise direction. Accordingly, the induced currents arecombined in phase by the cascaded coil antenna 216 to increase couplingcoefficient between the transmitting coil antenna at the portable device102-4, and the cascaded coil antenna 216 of the portable device 102-2.

At block 612, guiding magnetic flux to generate magnetic fields of thesame direction is performed. In an implementation, during the transmitmode, the injected current flowing at the first coil antenna 216-2 andthe second coil antenna 216-4 may generate the magnetic fields that willflow in the same direction.

FIG. 7 illustrates another example system 700 in accordance with thepresent disclosure. In various implementations, system 700 may be amedia system although system 700 is not limited to this context. Forexample, system 700 may be incorporated into a personal computer (PC),laptop computer, ultra-laptop computer, tablet, touch pad, portablecomputer, handheld computer, palmtop computer, personal digitalassistant (PDA), cellular telephone, combination cellular telephone/PDA,television, smart device (e.g., smart phone, smart tablet or smarttelevision), mobile internet device (MID), messaging device, datacommunication device, and so forth.

In various implementations, system 700 includes a platform 702 coupledto a display 720. Platform 702 may receive content from a content devicesuch as content services device(s) 730 or content delivery device(s) 740or other similar content sources. A navigation controller 750 includingone or more navigation features may be used to interact with, forexample, platform 702 and/or display 720. Each of these components isdescribed in greater detail below.

In various implementations, platform 702 may include any combination ofa chipset 705, processor 710, memory 712, storage 714, graphicssubsystem 715, applications 716 and/or radio 718. Chipset 705 mayprovide intercommunication among processor 710, memory 712, storage 714,graphics subsystem 715, applications 716 and/or radio 718. For example,chipset 705 may include a storage adapter (not depicted) capable ofproviding intercommunication with storage 714.

Processor 710 may be implemented as a Complex Instruction Set Computer(CISC) or Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) processors, x86instruction set compatible processors, multi-core, or any othermicroprocessor or central processing unit (CPU). In variousimplementations, processor 710 may be dual-core processor(s), dual-coremobile processor(s), and so forth.

Memory 712 may be implemented as a volatile memory device such as, butnot limited to, a Random Access Memory (RAM), Dynamic Random AccessMemory (DRAM), or Static RAM (SRAM).

Storage 714 may be implemented as a non-volatile storage device such as,but not limited to, a magnetic disk drive, optical disk drive, tapedrive, an internal storage device, an attached storage device, flashmemory, battery backed-up SDRAM (synchronous DRAM), and/or a networkaccessible storage device. In various implementations, storage 714 mayinclude technology to increase the storage performance enhancedprotection for valuable digital media when multiple hard drives areincluded, for example.

Graphics subsystem 715 may perform processing of images such as still orvideo for display. Graphics subsystem 715 may be a graphics processingunit (GPU) or a visual processing unit (VPU), for example. An analog ordigital interface may be used to communicatively couple graphicssubsystem 715 and display 720. For example, the interface may be any ofa High-Definition Multimedia Interface, DisplayPort, wireless HDMI,and/or wireless HD compliant techniques. Graphics subsystem 715 may beintegrated into processor 710 or chipset 705. In some implementations,graphics subsystem 715 may be a stand-alone card communicatively coupledto chipset 705.

The graphics and/or video processing techniques described herein may beimplemented in various hardware architectures. For example, graphicsand/or video functionality may be integrated within a chipset.Alternatively, a discrete graphics and/or video processor may be used.As still another implementation, the graphics and/or video functions maybe provided by a general purpose processor, including a multi-coreprocessor. In further embodiments, the functions may be implemented in aconsumer electronics device.

Radio 718 may include one or more radios capable of transmitting andreceiving signals using various suitable wireless communicationstechniques. Such techniques may involve communications across one ormore wireless networks. Example wireless networks include (but are notlimited to) wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless personal areanetworks (WPANs), wireless metropolitan area network (WMANs), cellularnetworks, and satellite networks. In communicating across such networks,radio 718 may operate in accordance with one or more applicablestandards in any version.

In various implementations, display 720 may include any television typemonitor or display. Display 720 may include, for example, a computerdisplay screen, touch screen display, video monitor, television-likedevice, and/or a television. Display 720 may be digital and/or analog.In various implementations, display 720 may be a holographic display.Also, display 720 may be a transparent surface that may receive a visualprojection. Such projections may convey various forms of information,images, and/or objects. For example, such projections may be a visualoverlay for a mobile augmented reality (MAR) application. Under thecontrol of one or more software applications 716, platform 702 maydisplay user interface 722 on display 720.

In various implementations, content services device(s) 730 may be hostedby any national, international and/or independent service and thusaccessible to platform 702 via the Internet, for example. Contentservices device(s) 730 may be coupled to platform 702 and/or to display720. Platform 702 and/or content services device(s) 730 may be coupledto a network 760 to communicate (e.g., send and/or receive) mediainformation to and from network 760. Content delivery device(s) 740 alsomay be coupled to platform 702 and/or to display 720.

In various implementations, content services device(s) 730 may include acable television box, personal computer, network, telephone, Internetenabled devices or appliance capable of delivering digital informationand/or content, and any other similar device capable of unidirectionallyor bidirectionally communicating content between content providers andplatform 702 and/display 720, via network 760 or directly. It will beappreciated that the content may be communicated unidirectionally and/orbidirectionally to and from any one of the components in system 700 anda content provider via network 760. Examples of content may include anymedia information including, for example, video, music, medical andgaming information, and so forth.

Content services device(s) 730 may receive content such as cabletelevision programming including media information, digital information,and/or other content. Examples of content providers may include anycable or satellite television or radio or Internet content providers.The provided examples are not meant to limit implementations inaccordance with the present disclosure in any way.

In various implementations, platform 702 may receive control signalsfrom navigation controller 750 having one or more navigation features.The navigation features of controller 750 may be used to interact withuser interface 722, for example. In embodiments, navigation controller750 may be a pointing device that may be a computer hardware component(specifically, a human interface device) that allows a user to inputspatial (e.g., continuous and multi-dimensional) data into a computer.Many systems such as graphical user interfaces (GUI), and televisionsand monitors allow the user to control and provide data to the computeror television using physical gestures.

Movements of the navigation features of controller 750 may be replicatedon a display (e.g., display 720) by movements of a pointer, cursor,focus ring, or other visual indicators displayed on the display. Forexample, under the control of software applications 716, the navigationfeatures located on navigation controller 750 may be mapped to virtualnavigation features displayed on user interface 722, for example. Inembodiments, controller 750 may not be a separate component but may beintegrated into platform 702 and/or display 720. The present disclosure,however, is not limited to the elements or in the context shown ordescribed herein.

In various implementations, drivers (not shown) may include technologyto enable users to instantly turn on and off platform 702 like atelevision with the touch of a button after initial boot-up, whenenabled, for example. Program logic may allow platform 702 to streamcontent to media adaptors or other content services device(s) 730 orcontent delivery device(s) 740 even when the platform is turned “off.”In addition, chipset 705 may include hardware and/or software supportfor 5.1 surround sound audio and/or high definition 7.1 surround soundaudio, for example. Drivers may include a graphics driver for integratedgraphics platforms. In embodiments, the graphics driver may comprise aperipheral component interconnect (PCI) Express graphics card.

In various implementations, any one or more of the components shown insystem 700 may be integrated. For example, platform 702 and contentservices device(s) 730 may be integrated, or platform 702 and contentdelivery device(s) 740 may be integrated, or platform 702, contentservices device(s) 730, and content delivery device(s) 740 may beintegrated, for example. In various embodiments, platform 702 anddisplay 720 may be an integrated unit. Display 720 and content servicedevice(s) 730 may be integrated, or display 720 and content deliverydevice(s) 740 may be integrated, for example. These examples are notmeant to limit the present disclosure.

In various embodiments, system 700 may be implemented as a wirelesssystem, a wired system, or a combination of both. When implemented as awireless system, system 700 may include components and interfacessuitable for communicating over a wireless shared media, such as one ormore antennas, transmitters, receivers, transceivers, amplifiers,filters, control logic, and so forth. An example of wireless sharedmedia may include portions of a wireless spectrum, such as the RFspectrum and so forth. When implemented as a wired system, system 700may include components and interfaces suitable for communicating overwired communications media, such as input/output (I/O) adapters,physical connectors to connect the I/O adapter with a correspondingwired communications medium, a network interface card (NIC), disccontroller, video controller, audio controller, and the like. Examplesof wired communications media may include a wire, cable, metal leads,printed circuit board (PCB), backplane, switch fabric, semiconductormaterial, twisted-pair wire, co-axial cable, fiber optics, and so forth.

Platform 702 may establish one or more logical or physical channels tocommunicate information. The information may include media informationand control information. Media information may refer to any datarepresenting content meant for a user. Examples of content may include,for example, data from a voice conversation, videoconference, streamingvideo, electronic mail (“email”) message, voice mail message,alphanumeric symbols, graphics, image, video, text and so forth. Datafrom a voice conversation may be, for example, speech information,silence periods, background noise, comfort noise, tones and so forth.Control information may refer to any data representing commands,instructions or control words meant for an automated system. Forexample, control information may be used to route media informationthrough a system, or instruct a node to process the media information ina predetermined manner. The embodiments, however, are not limited to theelements or in the context shown or described in FIG. 7.

As described above, system 700 may be embodied in varying physicalstyles or form factors. FIG. 8 illustrates implementations of a smallform factor device 800 in which system 700 may be embodied. Inembodiments, for example, device 800 may be implemented as a mobilecomputing device having wireless capabilities. A mobile computing devicemay refer to any device having a processing system and a mobile powersource or supply, such as one or more batteries, for example.

As described above, examples of a mobile computing device may include apersonal computer (PC), laptop computer, ultra-laptop computer, tablet,touch pad, portable computer, handheld computer, palmtop computer,personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular telephone, combinationcellular telephone/PDA, television, smart device (e.g., smart phone,smart tablet or smart television), mobile internet device (MID),messaging device, data communication device, and so forth.

Examples of a mobile computing device also may include computers thatare arranged to be worn by a person, such as a wrist computer, fingercomputer, ring computer, eyeglass computer, belt-clip computer, arm-bandcomputer, shoe computers, clothing computers, and other wearablecomputers. In various embodiments, for example, a mobile computingdevice may be implemented as a smart phone capable of executing computerapplications, as well as voice communications and/or datacommunications. Although some embodiments may be described with a mobilecomputing device implemented as a smart phone by way of example, it maybe appreciated that other embodiments may be implemented using otherwireless mobile computing devices as well. The embodiments are notlimited in this context.

Realizations in accordance with the present invention have beendescribed in the context of particular embodiments. These embodimentsare meant to be illustrative and not limiting. Many variations,modifications, additions, and improvements are possible. Accordingly,plural instances may be provided for components described herein as asingle instance. Boundaries between various components, operations anddata stores are somewhat arbitrary, and particular operations areillustrated in the context of specific illustrative configurations.Other allocations of functionality are envisioned and may fall withinthe scope of claims that follow. Finally, structures and functionalitypresented as discrete components in the various configurations may beimplemented as a combined structure or component. These and othervariations, modifications, additions, and improvements may fall withinthe scope of the invention as defined in the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A smart phone, comprising: a near fieldcommunications (NFC) module; a coil antenna configured to transmit andreceive near field communications (NFC) signals; and first and secondconductors that couple the NFC module to the coil antenna, wherein thecoil antenna comprises a first coil antenna and a second coil antennaconnected in series with the first coil antenna, wherein the first andsecond coil antennas are disposed at different locations within thesmart phone, wherein the first coil antenna comprises at least twoconcentric loops and wherein the second coil antenna comprises at leastthree concentric loops, wherein the first conductor is connected to thefirst coil antenna, and wherein the second conductor is connected to thesecond coil antenna.
 2. The smart phone defined in claim 1 wherein theat least two concentric loops of the first coil antenna surround a firstarea within the smart phone, wherein the at least three concentric loopsof the second coil antenna surround a second area within the smartphone, and wherein the first and second areas are located insubstantially different areas within the smart phone.
 3. The smart phonedefined in claim 1, wherein the first and second coil antennas eachcomprise first and second ends, wherein the first conductor is connectedto the first end of the first coil antenna, wherein the second end ofthe first coil antenna is connected to the first end of the second coilantenna, and wherein the second end of the second coil antenna isconnected to the second conductor.
 4. The smart phone defined in claim1, wherein the first conductor comprises a center conductor of a coaxialcable and wherein the second conductor comprises a metallic shield ofthe coaxial cable.
 5. The smart phone defined in claim 1 furthercomprising a display disposed on a front surface of the smart phone,wherein at least the first coil antenna is disposed on a rear surface ofthe smart phone.
 6. The smart phone defined in claim 1 wherein the firstand second coil antennas are connected together in series through aconnecting wire.
 7. The smart phone defined in claim 1 furthercomprising a flux guide installed to cover a top of the first coilantenna and span to a portion of the second coil antenna, wherein theflux guide at receive mode is configured to generate magnetic flux atthe first coil antenna and the second coil antenna to induce current ofthe same phase, and wherein the flux guide at transmit mode facilitatesthe magnetic flux at the first coil antenna and the second coil antennato generate magnetic fields of the same direction.
 8. The smart phonedefined in claim 1 further comprising a camera mounted on a givensurface of the smart phone, wherein at least the first coil antenna isalso mounted on the given surface of the smart phone.
 9. The smart phonedefined in claim 1 further comprising a camera mounted on a givensurface of the smart phone, wherein at least the first coil antenna isalso mounted on the given surface of the smart phone and wherein thefirst coil antenna surrounds at least a portion of the camera.
 10. Acellular telephone, comprising: a cellular communications radio; a nearfield communications (NFC) module; a near field communications (NFC)coil antenna including first and second coils connected together inseries; and first and second conductors that couple together the NFCmodule and the NFC coil antenna, wherein the first and second coils aredisposed at different locations within the smart phone, wherein thefirst coil comprises at least two loops and wherein the second coilcomprises at least three loops, wherein the first conductor is connectedto the first coil, and wherein the second conductor is connected to thesecond coil.
 11. The cellular telephone defined in claim 10, wherein thefirst and second coils each comprise first and second ends, wherein thefirst conductor is connected to the first end of the first coil, whereinthe second end of the first coil is connected to the first end of thesecond coil, and wherein the second end of the second coil is connectedto the second conductor.
 12. The cellular telephone defined in claim 10,wherein the first conductor comprises a center conductor of a coaxialcable and wherein the second conductor comprises a metallic shield ofthe coaxial cable.
 13. The cellular telephone defined in claim 10,further comprising a display disposed on a front surface of the smartphone, wherein at least the first coil antenna is disposed on a rearsurface of the smart phone.
 14. The cellular telephone defined in claim10, wherein the first and second coils are connected together in seriesthrough a connecting wire.
 15. The cellular telephone defined in claim10, further comprising a flux guide installed to cover a top of thefirst coil and span to a portion of the second coil, wherein the fluxguide at receive mode is configured to generate magnetic flux at thefirst coil and the second coil to induce current of the same phase, andwherein the flux guide at transmit mode facilitates the magnetic flux atthe first coil and the second coil to generate magnetic fields of thesame direction.
 16. The cellular telephone defined in claim 10, furthercomprising a camera mounted on a given surface of the smart phone,wherein at least the first coil is also mounted on the given surface ofthe smart phone.
 17. The cellular telephone defined in claim 10, furthercomprising a camera mounted on a given surface of the smart phone,wherein at least the first coil is also mounted on the given surface ofthe smart phone and wherein the first coil surrounds at least a portionof the camera.
 18. The cellular telephone defined in claim 10, whereinthe first coil is wrapped around a first area, wherein the second coilis wrapped around a second area, and wherein the first and second areasare substantially non-overlapping.
 19. The cellular telephone defined inclaim 10, wherein the first coil is wrapped around a first area, whereinthe second coil is wrapped around a second area, and wherein the firstand second areas are located in different portions of the cellulartelephone.
 20. A tablet computer, comprising: a near fieldcommunications (NFC) module; a display disposed on a front side of thetablet computer; a first NFC antenna coupled to the NFC module, whereinthe first NFC antenna is proximate to the front side of the tabletcomputer and proximate to an edge of the display; and a second NFCantenna coupled to the NFC module, wherein the second NFC antenna isproximate to the rear side of the tablet computer, wherein the first andsecond NFC antennas are coupled together in series.
 21. The tabletcomputer defined in claim 20, wherein the front and rear sides of thetablet computer comprise substantially parallel surfaces.
 22. The tabletcomputer defined in claim 20 further comprising: a near fieldcommunications (NFC) module; a first conductor connected between the NFCmodule and the first NFC antenna; and a second conductor connectedbetween the NFC module and the second NFC antenna.
 23. The tabletcomputer defined in claim 22, wherein the first and second NFC antennaseach comprise first and second ends, wherein the first conductor isconnected to the first end of the first coil antenna, wherein the secondend of the first NFC antenna is connected to the first end of the secondNFC antenna, and wherein the second end of the second NFC antenna isconnected to the second conductor.
 24. The smart phone defined in claim20 further comprising a flux guide configured to generate magnetic fluxat the first NFC antenna and the second NFC antenna to induce current ofthe same phase, and wherein the flux guide at transmit mode facilitatesthe magnetic flux at the first NFC antenna and the second NFC antenna togenerate magnetic fields of the same direction.
 25. A wearable device tobe worn on a user's wrist or finger, the useable device comprising: anear field communications (NFC) module; a first NFC antenna coupled tothe NFC module; and a second NFC antenna coupled to the NFC module,wherein the first and second NFC antennas are coupled together inseries, and wherein the first and second NFC antennas are disposed atdifferent locations within the wearable device.
 26. The wearable devicedefined in claim 25 further comprising: a housing shaped to conform tothe user's wrist.
 27. The wearable device defined in claim 25 furthercomprising: a housing shaped to conform to the user's wrist.
 28. Thewearable device defined in claim 25 further comprising a flux guideconfigured to generate magnetic flux at the first NFC antenna and thesecond NFC antenna to induce current of the same phase, and wherein theflux guide at transmit mode facilitates the magnetic flux at the firstNFC antenna and the second NFC antenna to generate magnetic fields ofthe same direction.